Cocks Arquette: Cocks Arquette (OSCL)
CD/LP/DL
Out:Now

Australian five piece Cocks Arquette have just released one of the most wonderfully aggressive and hypnotic debuts that our reviewer has heard in quite some time.

I’ve just had my ass kicked and I loved every minute. Not physically of course, that’s never much fun, but when you find a band that just absolutely floor you, sometimes there’s no better analogy.

Cocks Arquette’s CD arrived on my doorstep one day and the unassuming black cover gave little away as to what was contained within. Little could have prepared me for the onslaught of distortion-led sonic assaults that would follow. Rhythmic and primal, their snapping percussion and otherworldly wails give a unique resonance which I have not heard the likes of in a very long time.

One of the comparisons which kept arising was that of the instrumental breakdowns which regularly appeared on Nirvana’s blistering debut album ”˜Bleach’ in 1989. There’s nothing of Cobain’s melodies to be found here, but there is the desperate and frantic guitar sound, combined with a sterling rhythm section. If you can combine that with a particularly terrifying Locus / Lightning Bolt gig, then you’ll begin to get the picture as to what to expect. Especially if the aforementioned were all playing at a Big Black tribute night.

Cocks Arquette play like a band possessed, as if this music has to get out of them, or terrible things may happen. An absolute time bomb of a record which leaves me in desperate hope that they gain enough attention to warrant a European tour. They have already played with the likes of Mick Turner (Dirty Three), The Nation Blue, Pikelet, Lichens, Francis Plagne, Bonnie Mercer (Grey Daturas), Useless Children and more, which would indicate that they are more than ready for this.

It was only a few weeks ago that we came across fellow label mates The Night Terrors here at Louder Than War, who, whilst possessing an entirely different sound maintain the same exciting individuality. It seems that OSCL are a label to be focusing on at the moment.

Get this album now. You need it.

You can acquire the album directly from Cocks Arquette at their Bandcamp HERE. They can also be found on Facebook HERE.

Watch: Cocks Arquette being loud, live and noisy in Melbourne.

All words by Colin McCracken. You can read more of his Louder Than War articles HERE
He writes about movies HERE and lurks about on Twitter HERE